Racism, Income Inequality, and Poverty
Instructions
The purpose: We have spent the last months talking about society: what it is, how it is set up and organized, and how it shapes our experiences and who we are. Now is your chance to give our learning shape by revisiting the question “Who am I/How did I get here?” equipped with the sociological imagination.
The assignment: Write a 500 – 600-word cohesive essay thoughtfully analyzing who you are sociologically. (That’s roughly 2 pages.) I am looking for you to think sociologically about who you are by applying concepts and using course materials, particularly the sociological ones.
Where to start?
• Review the material we covered — particularly sociology!
• Think about what resonated with you, helped you understand your experiences and who you are, and how you got here.
• Choose a theme or two (maybe three) you can focus on. You can’t tell your whole life story, but you can thoughtfully deal with some aspects of who you are or how you got here sociologically.
For example, you might
• Analyze how biography and history intersect in your life or how your social location shaped your life and life chances
• Write an in-depth exploration of your relationship to a subculture, deviance, or socialization
• Explore your relationship to various social institutions or social forces
• Use your sociological imagination to explore what you thought were personal troubles as a public issue…. you name it.
What you focus on is less important than thinking about whatever you focus on sociologically (rather than individualistically) – intersectionality
Next, prepare class material you can refer to and use. Check readings from Canvas and Newman, your notes on our discussions, and film clips we’ve seen. Review sociological concepts. Make a list of readings and concepts you can use along the way in your essay. Check the instructions for how to incorporate readings/class material.
Write it up! (See Hints below). Make sure to indicate the concepts you are dealing with in your essay by underlining, italicizing, or bolding.
Revisit what you wrote and make changes as necessary: Do you have an introduction? A body? A conclusion? Have you organized your paragraphs well? (Do you have paragraphs??) Does one paragraph lead to the next? Did you clearly indicate the concepts you’re using per the instructions above?